May loses again. The only way out of this mess is to ask the British people.

Following yet another historic defeat for the UK Government on the withdrawal agreement, S&D Group President Udo Bullmann and Group spokesperson for Brexit Roberto Gualtieri said:

“Theresa May has again failed due to her reckless and inflexible approach. She has wasted months chasing the votes of hard Brexiters rather than actually engaging with Labour to build a cross-party consensus. As the saying goes – to err is human, to persist in error is diabolical. The UK Parliament must now take control on Monday to find a majority for a way out of this mess – either for a closer EU-UK relationship or to put it back to the British people.

“Despite Parliament consistently saying it is against a no-deal Brexit, the risk of it happening by accident on April 12 are increasing. This would be bad for everyone but a disaster for the UK. Citizens cannot pay the price for the failures of their politicians. If a no-deal was to happen, our group will take the initiative and work to ensure citizens’ rights are ring-fenced.

“A longer extension is now necessary, meaning the UK taking part in EU elections. Although this does involve complications, these pale into insignificance compared to getting the relationship between the UK and EU right. An extension should therefore be given but for a clear purpose.”